Adobe Flash blocked in Chrome 76

When you now run version 76 of the Google Chrome browser you will see the message shown in the screen shot excerpt below.

Click above to enlarge image.

If you click on Learn more at the right-hand side, you will see a 2017 message about the termination of Adobe Flash late next year.



 As explained in this article, Chrome now blocks Adobe Flash by default.  Flash support has been built into Chrome for a long while, thereby not requiring the user to download it separately from Adobe each time an urgent security update was needed.

Mozilla's Firefox browser will disable Flash starting in version 69.  I already have it disabled in my current version (68.0.1) of Firefox.

Based on what I see on the Adobe Flash Player download page, Flash is still supported in all versions of Windows, along with macOS and Linux. Web browsers other than Chrome may still support Flash, but the number of websites that still require Flash is rapidly shrinking.

If you still use a particular website for a service that is important to you and it will not run unless Flash is enabled, I recommend that you enable Flash only for that particular website.

John

Web log-in storage by Intenet Explorer

Most if not all web browsers provide the convenience of storing usernames and passwords for logging into web sites that require them. While I do not recommend using a web browser to store log-in data for very important or sensitive web accounts, the service can be convenient for other web accounts. For your most important log-in data I recommend a program such as Password Safe. This program saves your data in an encrypted file that you can easily save on back-up media, too.

Some web browsers let you access stored log-in data easily, and provide the option of password protecting the stored data. However, this 'master password' feature is not as secure as a dedicated password program.

Log-in data (usernames and passwords) stored by Internet Explorer (IE) are not accessible within IE. When you access a web site log-in page that uses the stored data, your username will be visible, but the password will be obscured. If you have stored such data while browsing with IE and later need to view it, because you don't have it saved elsewhere, you will need to use a third-party software tool or an obscure procedure.

This web page discusses the protected storage used by IE and provides links to several tools for accessing the stored data. Most of the tools listed are priced at $39. One is offered free of charge. Another page features such a tool for $10. I cannot advise about the effectiveness or trustworthiness of such tools.

In summary, be cautious about where you store web account log-in data so that it is secure but also accessible when needed.